Adult Children of Alcoholics World Service Organization, Inc. (ACAWSO) is a legally incorporated nonprofit charitable organization led by a Board of Trustees composed of volunteers selected to serve as corporate trustees according to the laws of the State of California, U.S.A. This World Service Organization (WSO) provides a sense of common purpose, stability, and continuity for ACA Groups, Intergroups, and Regions. By serving as a central point of group communication, the WSO encourages unity and consistency among ACA meetings. WSO maintains worldwide registered ACA meeting information. It is one place where ACA Groups, members, and the general public can find information, literature, and meeting locations.
The singleness of purpose of WSO is to carry the message of ACA recovery to all who suffer from being raised in an alcoholic or other dysfunctional environment. WSO maintains an informational telephone line, postal address, email addresses, and an Internet website enabling it to serve as a stable communication base for the ACA program.
WSO committees composed of volunteer ACA members and paid staff are assigned the following tasks (and much more): create and update operating policies and procedures; manage ACA finances and execute budgets; recruit and orient volunteers; prepare ACA literature for conference approval, translation, publication, sale, and distribution; publish the ACA ComLine Blog and the monthly Traveler newsletter; support WSO use of technology; coordinate group, intergroup, and region outreach; coordinate hospitals and institutions outreach; and provide public information.
The Board of Trustees oversees WSO and its operations. The Trustees are volunteer ACA members from all over the world. The Board holds quarterly public teleconferences and many other private meetings to conduct ACA business during each calendar year. To participate in an online Board teleconference, one needs access information that is available by contacting WSO or by locating that information on the WSO website.
The Board employs a General Manager, a financial Controller, an Information Technology Manager, and a few other paid staff members. The General Manager supervises these employees and oversees an office in Signal Hill, California, where most of them work. ACA literature is warehoused at that location and shipped to buyers who purchase directly from WSO. Literature is also sold through Amazon and other online outlets.
This office also receives most inquiries from ACA members and groups as well as from the general public. The office staff either respond directly or refer it to a Board or staff member or to a volunteer who may be in a better position to answer a specific question.
The Board of Trustees works in partnership with the ACA Business Conference to set policies and manage the operations of ACA World Services. They are guided by the ACA Twelve Traditions, the ACA Twelve Concepts for World Service, and by delegates representing ACA Groups who meet and conduct ACA business.
The WSO is partially supported by contributions received from ACA Groups, Intergroups, Regions, and individual ACA members. However, contributions are usually less than 20% of total income. The rest of the income is from the sale of literature and other items from the WSO Shop, which means ACA is not fully self-supporting from contributions but is highly dependent upon literature sales to support its primary purpose of carrying the ACA message to still suffering adult children around the world.
And that is why you should care about what the WSO is and what it does.
Contact WSO
Website: https://adultchildren.org/contact/
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone: 310-534-1815
Mailing Address: ACA WSO, PO Box 811, Lakewood, CA 90714
Office Address: 1901 E 29th Street, Signal Hill, CA 90755
Office Telephone: 562-595-7831
Bradford H
Leave a Reply